Michel Richard's Central in Washington DC

Since I was in downtown Washington DC to attend an event at the Newseum this week, I took advantage of the opportunity to have lunch nearby at Michel Richard's Central, a less formal bistro that is the companion to his high-end French restaurant Citronelle.


I found Central to be very good but perhaps a little too well-mannered in its casual French-American fare. I enjoyed my meal but didn't find it all that memorable, particularly at the price. Later that day I would have a much more inspired dinner at Palena.

About Central
Michel Richard's Citronelle is consistently cited as one of the top 5-10 restaurants in Washington, and in 2007 he opened Central on Pennsylvania Avenue, about halfway between the US Capitol building and the White House.

The space is very modern and light, with a blond wood, glass, and steel decor, and I was seated in a nice location where I could observe the action in the kitchen.


The Food
I decided to try the duck rillettes with faux gras, lamb shank, and french fries. The rillettes and "faux gras" appetizers are a signature dish at Central, with the latter being his take on a substitute for fois gras that uses chicken liver and copious amounts of butter. (Thus avoiding the issue of force-feeding geese to produce the engorged livers for fois gras.)

The rillettes are a cross between duck confit and pate, with the shredded duck combined into a paste that makes it a smooth spread, and served as a molded cylinder.


While I liked both the rillettes and faux gras, it was a little too much for a solo diner. The faux gras especially came in a relatively large container for so rich a spread and I only finished half of it.

I ordered the french fries because some people rave over them, but found them frankly uninspiring. While I'm sure they're fresh cut, I found them to have a consistency that reminded me a little too much of mashed potatoes.

The lamb shank was better, but the polenta it was served over was a little mushy too, and the large sprig of rosemary, while attractive, felt like a bit of a waste. The lamb itself was decent but very light on seasoning, cooked in a style that emphasizes the taste of the roasted meat.


I did really enjoy the peach tonic, an airy, dry-tasting concoction of peach juice and seltzer water with just a hint of sweetness.


The Verdict
I'd be willing to give Central another try if in the area but I probably wouldn't reorder any of these dishes. While everything was well-prepared, it just wasn't all that exciting.

The burgers are actually highly recommended and that might be my choice the next time. Other possibilities would be the onion and lardon (bacon) tart; the pied de cochon (pig's feet meat in pastry); or Michel's chocolate bar (formerly known as the kit kat bar) for dessert.

Getting There
Central has a great, "central" location in the Penn Quarter-Federal Triangle Area. They're two blocks west of the Navy Memorial-Archives Metro Station and close to a large number of federal agencies and attractions, including the Smithsonian/National Mall; the Newseum; the Old Post Office Building; and the FBI, IRS, and National Archives.

More Photos
The weather was beautiful for February, a little overcast but in the upper 50's, so I walked around a bit. The Old Post Office Building is across the street from Central:


The interior has been renovated and converted to shops:


You can take an elevator (actually two of them) to the 12-story tower:


From where you can get a good view of Washington DC:


Though mostly you're looking through plexiglass or wire:


Brazilian churrascaria Fogo de Chao's DC location is also next door:


The FBI celebrated its 100th anniversary last year:


FTC headquarters in Federal Triangle has some 1930's artwork:


Union General Winfield Scott Hancock was one of the heroes of Gettysburg; his statue stands at the exit of the Metro Station:


I never figured out what this building was across from the National Archives:


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Marbury vs. Madison and The US Supreme Court

I went back to The Newseum in Washington DC today for a discussion of a new book, The Great Decision by Cliff Sloan and David McKean, about the seminal 1803 US Supreme Court case Marbury vs. Madison that established the judiciary as the final interpreter of the US Constitution.

The celebrity speaker was Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, but he really did little more than introduce the topic and ask a few softball questions during the talk. His participation was surely a favor to Cliff Sloan, a lawyer, who served as a Supreme Court law clerk under Stevens and was the former publisher of Slate magazine.


The only things really new was Justice Stevens' surprising vehemence that Presidents should follow the example of Presidents Ford and Reagan, who made the trip to the Supreme Court for the swearing in of new justices, as opposed to having them come to the White House. Though largely symbolic, he felt this was part of the respect to the institution as a co-equal branch of government and for the principle of separation of powers.

Nonetheless, the conversation was engaging and provided a lot of insight into the charged political atmosphere and personal rivalries that surrounded the Marbury case. It also became clear that Chief Justice John Marshall was the driving force who shaped the Supreme Court into the institution that it is today.

Background
On the surface, Marbury vs Madison was about whether a lame-duck appointee to the federal judiciary by the outgoing administration of one party (President John Adams' Federalist Party) would be seated by the incoming Republican administration of President Thomas Jefferson.

But landmines abounded in the case. Marshall himself had been Secretary of State under Adams and a staunch Federalist, and the 1800 Presidential Election resulted in chaos, with the Federalists voted out of office and the electoral college tie between Republicans Jefferson and Aaron Burr decided in the House of Representatives. The nation teetered on the brink of collapse.

Due to an overlap in his positions, in February 1801 Marshall actually simultaneously served as both Secretary of State and in his new role as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the former role he was personally and directly involved in the rush to issue the lame duck appointments, handling much of the paperwork and responsible for it being served to the appointees.


The judicial appointments were an attempt at packing the judicial system with Federalists; 16 new circuit courts had been established in the waning days of the Adams administration, and candidates were hastily appointed to these positions and 42 others at literally the final hour.

In the crush, Marshall was unable to deliver all of the appointments, setting the stage for the conflict. Jefferson personally stopped the delivery of the remaining letters of appointment, and William Marbury sued to get the job of Justice of the Peace for District of Columbia.

Though under modern rules Marshall would have been required to recuse himself, under the conditions of the time the only mandatory criteria for recusal was personal financial interest, which did not apply.

A Messy Political Situation
The judiciary was still controlled by the Federalists, and it was widely expected that the Court would rule in favor of Marbury and other similar Federalist petitioners. The new Republican Congress suspended the Court for almost a year, through most of 1802.

Complicating the situation, it's not clear that Jefferson would have complied with such a ruling. The Federalists had rammed through the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which sought to suppress criticism of the federal government and protect the country against foreign agents during a period of conflict with France.

The Federalist-dominated judiciary had upheld and enforced the Acts, which many argued were unconstitutional, and so the judicial branch was considered highly-suspect when the Federalists were swept out of office.

In a final twist, Jefferson and Marshall were distant cousins who hated each other. Author Sloan asserts that this was in part because Marshall revered George Washington (having been at Valley Forge with him), and Jefferson was viewed as disrespectful to Washington. In any event, their personal animosity was clear.

The Ruling
So if the Court upheld Marbury's appointment, Jefferson could simply ignore it; and if it ruled against Marbury, the Republicans would be seen as having scored a political victory.

In this super-charged environment Marshall skillfully delivered a ruling that dumbfounded the observers of the day, and is viewed by many as one of the great decisions that firmly established the rule of law.

Marshall ruled that:

1. Marbury was legally entitled to his commission.
2. The law required that the government enforce this proper appointment.
3. But, the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction in the case because the Congressional law giving it jurisdiction was unconstitutional.

Thus Marshall, who wrote the opinion, was able to criticize Jefferson at length for his actions -- and then nullify the decision while ruling on the constitutionality of a law of Congress. And he did it in a way that was at least nominally self-denying, thus cleverly pulling the fangs of critics.

The Impact
Marbury never got his appointment. But the ruling firmly established the Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the US Constitution, a principle called judicial review, which Marshall explicitly states in the decision:

It is, emphatically, the province and duty of the judicial department, to say what the law is.

According to the Great Decision authors, most newspapers simply published the decision in full without comment. The ruling would send Jefferson into tirades for the rest of his life, as he disagreed with the principle it established.

By giving up a small tactical issue, Marshall was able to win on the much larger question of whether the Supreme Court could review the actions of the other branches, a precedent that would set the case for the many critical cases Marshall would oversee in his 34 years as Chief Justice. He would consistently rule in a manner that strengthened the central government in disputes with states, establishing the power of the federal government.


Miscellaneous
With Marbury vs Madison, Marshall also enforced a new tradition within the Supreme Court, the practice of joint opinions. Previously, each of the judges would issue an individual opinion in each case.

Because of the force of Marshall's personality and his winning, genial demeanor, he was able to strongly influence the Court and wrote the majority opinion in the most important cases.

The Venue
The discussion was held in The Freedom Forum, an associated conference center on the back side of The Newseum. The room held perhaps 300 people, of which about 50 seats were reserved for Annual Press Pass members of The Newseum (the rest were largely occupied by members of the sponsoring organization, The Freedom Foundation, or by The Supreme Court Fellows program).



It's an opportunity to hear and participate in discussions with a highly-interested, learned group. One of the audience members who commented extensively was Maeva Marcus, Director of the Institute for Constitutional Studies and Research Professor of Law at The George Washington University and editor of a book on the predecessor to the Marshall Court, The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800.

But I'll be selective about attending events due to the extensive travel time required for me.

Other Trivia

• Marbury vs. Madison was issued in the lobby of Stelle's Hotel. Justice Samuel Chase had a painful case of the gout and was unable to walk to the Supreme Court's offices, so in order to have a quorum Marshall moved the Court's sessions to the boarding house where the Justices were staying. Stelle's was located on either the current site of the Supreme Court or right next to it.
• Marbury vs. Madison is highlighted in the Rotunda of the National Archives building, where the original Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and Bill of Rights are displayed.
• According to Sloan and Stevens, when Stevens was first appointed to the Supreme Court in 1975 and moved to Washington DC, he was asked for his occupation on his voter registration form. Stevens wrote, "Justice." The man taking his application looked at him and then said, "Last week we had 'Peace.'"
• The session moderator got a perhaps unintentional laugh when, in introducing Justice Stevens, he stated that he had ruled on 112 cases regarding freedom of expression since 1975 -- "24 of them in the majority."

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MetroMint Water At Whole Foods Market

I had no idea that Whole Foods Market is a cult phenomenon. The first time I ducked into the store, it was simply because it was near my Albuquerque, NM hotel and I needed to pick up some fluids to drink (the dry air and altitude there dehydrate me quickly).


I was surprised to see that the grocery seemed to specialize in organic foods and had many unusual products. By the end of the week I was addicted to mint water, returning a couple of times to pick up more bottles.

Mint Water
Though it sounds weird at first, MetroMint water is surprisingly refreshing with a variety of subtle mint flavors and no sugar. I tried the spearmint, peppermint, orange, and lemon waters. The chocolate mint seemed a little too strange to me, but a colleague said it was actually the best, so I'll have to get it next time.

They use natural mint oil and reverse osmosis water for a very pure, refreshing sensation.

Cassava Chips
I also picked up a bag of cassava chips which had a mild ginger seasoning (cassava is a relative of the potato but supposedly has more fiber and cooks up with a different, firmer texture). They were very good and noticeably less oily than potato chips.

All of the bags looked like they were about to burst, however. I speculated that they were filled at sea level and then expanded at Albuquerque's 5,300 foot elevation.


I didn't have the opportunity to eat the chips while in town so I opened a small hole to release the pressure before taking them on the airplane.

About Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods started in Austin, TX as one of the first large natural foods markets. They now have almost 300 locations in the US, UK, and Canada, and I like not not only their organic orientation but that they have a lot of unusual foods and brands.

Unfortunately, the nearest stores to me are at least 45 minutes away, so ironically I only go when I fly 1800 miles to New Mexico.

However, a Safeway near my home carries MetroMint and I'll have to make a special stop to get some. It's not cheap at about $1.50 a bottle, but it's a small luxury.
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Check Engine: On-Board Diagnostics (OBD)

I told my friend Tom that he's now my official automotive consultant. Acting on another tip from him, when my "Check Engine" light came on I went to Advance Auto Parts in Columbia, MD to borrow their car code reader to diagnose the problem.


Car Codes
Advance lets you use their car code reader if you leave your driver's license at the counter. The unit they have is the Actron CP9175 OBD-II AutoScanner, which costs about $110 on Amazon.com.

This unit lets you read the industry-standard On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD II) codes from your car's integrated computer. OBD trouble codes are used to diagnose car problems, most notoriously the "Check Engine" light which covers such a wide range of possible causes that it's impossible to tell otherwise what has triggered it.


The last time the Check Engine light came on, it was because I didn't tighten the gas cap enough after filling up my tank, but I didn't think that was the case this time. So I wanted to read out the trouble code to assess whether this was a serious issue that I needed to deal with immediately.

You'd think it'd be easy today for the manufacturers to provide the codes and a description directly, since many cars have digital screens, but they still rely on the antiquated indicator lights. But at least OBD-II is available on almost every car shipped since 1996.

Using The Car Code Reader
The reader plugs into the connector on your car, usually under the driver's side dash (near the fuse box, in my case). The car key needs to be in the "on" position.




Once plugged in and turned on, I selected "Read Codes" and the device went to work. In about a minute it returned a result, the error code P0420.



I used the reader to clear the code (though it came back on shortly afterwards) and then turned to the Internet to interpret it, since Advance wasn't able to tell me.


Trouble Code P0420
It quickly became clear that my problem is either an oxygen sensor or my catalytic converter. P0420 comes on when the oxygen level exiting the catalytic converter is too close to the same level as the dirty exhaust entering (indicating that the catalytic converter isn't cleaning the exhaust well enough).

Because this is primarily an emissions issue rather than something that will damage the engine, I didn't take it into the shop immediately as my schedule was very heavy. About a week later the light went off on its own when the weather warmed considerably (about 15-20 degrees).

My theory at this point is that my catalytic converter is probably the culprit, since it has 150,000 miles on it and my engine has been burning oil for the past year, and I'd hazard the guess that the converter's efficiency dropped below the acceptable threshold during our recent spell of extremely cold weather. 

Replacing a catalytic converter can be expensive so I'll conduct research before getting a replacement, especially since they usually rust onto the exhaust pipes after so many years in service (making them difficult to remove).

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Brookwood Farms NC Barbecue at Harris Teeter

Acting on a tip from Chowhound.com, I went to the new Harris Teeter grocery store in Columbia, MD to get some North Carolina-style pulled pork barbecue from Brookwood Farms of Siler City, NC.


Oddly enough, I've never stopped in North Carolina long enough to eat there, so I can't vouch for the authenticity of this product as a representative of NC-style barbecue.

But I can say is it's the best barbecue I've ever eaten out of a plastic tub.

Buying the BBQ
Harris Teeter is a Matthews, NC-based supermarket chain, so arguably they should know something about North Carolina barbecue.


More than that though, many people were honestly excited when they heard that Harris Teeter would be opening a store in Columbia. It's hard for me to get too worked up about a grocery store, but I have to admit it's a large, modern store with lots of products to select from, and it's open 24 hours.

I had forgotten the name of the barbecue brand and I wasn't able to find it using my iPhone (unfortunately, Chowhound now defaults to a mobile version where the search capability doesn't work, and I couldn't force it to go to the full site).


So I think I stared at the refrigerated case with the prepared meat products for 10 minutes before I finally noticed the small white tubs sitting discreetly at the bottom.

The Taste
Once I got home I spooned out a heaping portion of the barbecue into a bowl and heated it in the microwave. The pulled pork, slow-cooked in an open pit over coals at Brookwood Farms, was really good, even without bread or sides.

Though the barbecue sauce is mixed right in with the meat and has a very strong, tangy flavor in a vinegar-and-red-pepper-flakes way, the taste of the meat still comes through. The pork has a strong smoky aroma.

The pork has nice texture too, as the meat is pulled apart loosely into irregular-sized pieces rather than finely shredded, and some hunks retain their barbecued-meat consistency with even a hint of crispness. A few hunks of fat are included in the tub but don't have a strong flavor in themselves.

Overall Brookwood Farms makes very good barbecue that's much better than what's normally in a grocery store, and it's a definite change of pace from the usual Southern- or Memphis-style sauces in this area. I'll be dropping by to get some more.

About Harris Teeter in Columbia
The Harris Teeter store is in Columbia's King's Contrivance Village Center, and is much larger than the Safeway that they demolished to build it. It's on the south side of Columbia just a couple of blocks away from MD32 if you take the Shaker Road exit.


They have an enormous fresh fruits and vegetables section and even a slice-to-order island for freshly-baked breads.


Otherwise, though it's at least twice the size of most grocery stores in this area, I mostly didn't see anything too different than the super-sized groceries you'll find in other parts of the country.

But the staff seemed to be well-trained and friendly, and there were a few smart little touches throughout the store:


They have mini-grocery carts about the right size for a 5-year-old for their "customers in training." This is smart business as it not only keeps the kids happy but probably directly results in some extra sales.


Here's a bin full of enormous bones for the family pooch. It's an interesting gimmick and the bones have to go somewhere, though I think I'd feel like one of the Flintstones carrying one.

Finally, they had some unusual product line-ups, such as their wall of gourmet cooking oils:



And then here's a cult brand that I'd heard of but never seen, Jones Soda. (I tried a pack and though it's nice that they use cane sugar, I found it to be too much dominated by the taste of the sugar. I think they're mostly a marketing phenomenon, as they're known for letting customers design the labels.)
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Auto Body Images in Laurel, MD

A while back somebody put a dent about the size of a basketball in the right rear quarter panel of my car. On the recommendation of my friend Tom, I got a quote from Auto Body Images in Laurel, MD (or maybe it's officially Jessup, MD) and then took advantage of a short trip to minimize my downtime without a car.


I used the night drop service to leave the car early in the morning, then picked it up three days later when I flew back in. They did a great job.

The Damage
The dent caved in the panel but didn't do anything to make the car undriveable (or even scratch the paint). They told me it would take 3-4 days to repair.

With my Austin trip lasting 3 days, it seemed like a good way to minimize the effects of having my car in the shop.

Picking Up The Car
At first it seemed everything would work out perfectly. Once they started working on the car they thought there'd be a good chance it would be done when I got back.


But then Maryland got hit by the first real winter storm of the season, a couple of inches of snow followed by an icy, wintry mix that put a glaze of ice over everything. On the day of my return, they were having trouble giving me an estimate of the completion.

When I touched down at BWI, I called them and fortunately, the car was ready. They told me they weren't able to apply a decal because the metal was too cold, but I was able to pick up the car that day and avoid getting a rental.

The dented panel looks like new. Here are before and after pictures (ignore the salt spray from the messy weather):


The cost was reasonable, just under $600.

Getting There
Auto Body Images has a somewhat weird location. They're behind the Comfort Inn on US Route 1, practically in the curve of the on-ramp from US 1 South to MD 32 West. But once you know where they are they're pretty easy to get to, and my experience with them was good (though the reviews on Yahoo were decidedly mixed).


Their building is right behind Columbia Cab which is convenient if you need a taxi.
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